Mia Yim Reveals How Her IMPACT Wrestling Return Came About

Five years after she left the promotion, Mia Yim returned to IMPACT Wrestling at May's Under Siege special, taking out Deonna Purrazzo.

Yim was then in action at IMPACT's recent TV tapings and the former Knockouts World Champion has reportedly signed a six-month contract with the promotion.

Speaking about her decision to sign with with IMPACT, Yim admitted to Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture that Gail Kim played a major role in convincing her to return.

"A lot was going on in my mind. It's hard to pinpoint one or two specific things. Me and Keith {Lee} got released on the same day. It was a lot of figuring out -- I've done everything I've wanted to in my career, everything that I set a goal for myself I've done it all. So, do I even want to wrestle anymore? Just with the toxicity of social media and with what I did the last time like I was a joke, I was a joke, so it was like do I even bother?" Yim began.

"So we got married {Keith Lee}, we moved two weeks after, bought a house, so a lot of real-life stuff was happening. Keith, right after the wedding he went to work, so I am like alright, let me take a couple of months to kinda just hold down the fort, and get everything together with real-life first. So he doesn't have to worry about anything and everything will be taken care of at home. So I took a couple of months off to do things in my real life but also to figure out if this is what I wanted to continue to do. It was a lot, it was a lot," she continued.

"I am close friends with Gail {Kim} and I've been talking to her ever since I left IMPACT the first time. So we've been talking. I originally didn't want to sign anywhere, I didn't want to be on TV. I just didn't know what I wanted to do. But Gail was putting over the company, putting over the talent, even Scott {D'Amore}, putting over everything. As the head of the women's division, I have no questions, no second guesses, no hesitation that if I were to go to IMPACT under Gail’s leadership everything is gonna be fine. There's no drama, I didn't want to deal with drama, politics, if I was gonna wrestle, I just wanted to wrestle and hang out with my friends. And that place I have a lot of friends, I know that I would have a lot of wrestling opportunities, so it was a no brainer to me, 'okay I am going to give it one more try.'

"I don't want people to remember me for what I've done in the past year or two. I want people to remember me as Mia Yim, that I've had decades worth of work under my belt before I had the whole thing happen. I want people to remember that I am not just a manager for a group or whatever, I can go. Once I decided I am gonna give wrestling a try, I was like 'count me in Gail.' I know that at IMPACT I am gonna be okay," she added.

Prior to re-signing with IMPACT, Yim had been with WWE as Reckoning in the Retribution stable but she was pulled from the main roster in early 2021 after the faction split up. She was then released in November of that year.